Directly in front of the Marlan Temple, there is a quaint square.
The stone slabs on the ground in the square are incomplete, only a layer of fine gravel is paved, and there is a stone fountain in the center, but it has been dry for many, many years, and there is no longer a drop of water in the spring. In the distance, a few pedestrians stopped in the square, talking to each other and making gestures. As far as the eye can see, believers wearing gray cloth robes are lying on the steps of the temple one by one, kissing the ground at the feet of Ms. Marland.
This is morning prayer, and the customs vary from place to place. The Kaolin people like to sit in a tall and bright church and listen to the holy sermons. As for the Oshu people - there is the Otkla Choir known as the "Sound of the Golden Night". Legend has it that their singing is like the sound of nature in the clouds, no more than a siren - even the emperor of the empire only sings two or three times a year. It's just a chance to enjoy the 'singing'.
Among the believers, Mai Yisier was preaching. He was wearing a robe, holding a scripture in one hand and a holy object in the other. Marlan's silver running wolf shone in the sun.
When the old knight saw him, he was stunned for a moment, but he still did not stop what he was doing. He turned back and continued to teach the goddess's teachings to the believers.
Apart from the believers, the most people around were guards. Team after team, armed with armor and weapons, patrolled the square. Although the owner of this place was not here, the fortress still maintained the same appearance as when he was there. Compared to two weeks ago, the atmosphere seems to be more tense. Istania has not experienced war for many years, and the alert of Bein Fortress seems to mean something——
Perhaps the Sand King Babartan's plan has already reached a certain stage, and even Bein is on guard.
For a moment, Fang Yu doubted his judgment again, but this thought quickly disappeared in his mind.
As a bell rang from the simple tower of the church, the time for morning prayers had passed, and the believers left one after another. Mai Yixier then went down the stairs and walked up to him:
"Why did you return to Bein? Did you find your companions?"
"yes."
The old knight looked at him and said, "Since you are here, come in and sit down."
Fang Yu only looked at the other party and nodded slightly.
The two walked up the steps and entered the temple.
Fang Plover paid attention to his surroundings. The furnishings in the hall had not changed much from when he left - as if everything in Bein was like this. Day after day, this fortress built in the gravel was always the same. Abide by its ancient precepts. Just like a serious and taciturn guard, guarding the northern gate of the royal capital.
"I've seen people praying in the north, and the customs here are different."
"The way of praying is just a form, as long as it is enough to express respect for the saints."
Mai Yixier said as he walked.
Gods need to establish a religious connection with their followers so that when their followers die, they can guide them to the kingdom of God. The believer's soul will be transformed into a pure star, which is a form between starlight and life. It shines like a beacon in the dark world, guiding the gods to the kingdom of heaven and coming to guide the lost. deceased.
All believers belong, while those without faith return to dust. Belief is a big thing in Aitaria. People without faith will be transformed into pure starlight after death. Half of them will enter the kingdom of the dead, and the other half will become a part of nature. .
But the chosen ones are different.
After the death of the chosen one, the starlight is shared by all the gods, just like part of the 'Holy Chosen Agreement', which is also the origin of their name. Fang Yu only learned all this later from Bishop Tilios. Before that, he had always thought that the aboriginal term "Holy Chosen One" meant the chosen one.
But the so-called holy selection is the choice of all saints. They do not belong to a certain god, but belong to the common management of all gods. So it's no wonder that the Chosen One can be resurrected in any temple.
However, if the chosen one declares his faith in a certain god, then after he leaves this world, most of the starlight left behind will belong to that god. This is why the gods are willing to accept "hypocrisy" . Of course, there are also arrogant gods like Ms. Amaya among them - the forest lady's powerful divine power does not require these little powers of hypocrisy.
Fang Yu looked at the statue of Malan at the end of the hall, immersed in a beam of light on the ceiling, and thought to himself, he should be on the lady's side, right?
Although he doesn't think so, this is the rule among the gods——
Mai Yishil poured him a cup of tea, just like last time.
Looking at the rising white mist, Fang Plover asked:
"Didn't it cause you any trouble last time?"
"No, the count just sent someone to ask about something."
"I reconciled with him."
Mai Yixier only nodded.
"I haven't had time to say thank you for what happened last time—"
"It's just the goddess's guidance."
"But you were also a big help."
"You're welcome."
The hall was quiet for a while.
Fang Plover also passed by this place and wanted to come back to have a look. He left in a hurry last time, and indeed failed to properly thank the old knight——
Although he came to this place partly because of Marlan's guidance, the old knight's calm response at that time also helped him a lot.
Besides, the goddess doesn't need his thanks, but mortals are different.
Seeing him drinking tea, Mai Yixier asked:
"I received a letter from Bishop Faris and learned about some things that happened in the royal capital. But there must be a reason for returning to Bein this time, right?"
Fang Plover nodded.
"I'm here to help Her Royal Highness find someone."
"Does Her Majesty the Princess also have people here?" Mai Yixier was a little surprised.
Fang Yu described the person he had met before. However, except for a scar on the left side of his face, that man was unremarkable in other aspects. He was a passer-by who was difficult to distinguish at a glance. He simply answered the other party's questions without expecting to get anything.
But after listening, Mai Yixier raised his eyebrows slightly: "I seem to have seen this person before."
Fang Yu looked at the old knight in surprise.
"Why did Her Majesty the Princess ask you to find a sand thief?"
"Sand pirate?"
But Maiyishier just muttered to himself.
Hearing Fang Plover's question, he came back to his senses and replied: "I'm not sure about this, but I did see that person, more than once."
"He went to the temple to pray and sought atonement from me, saying he was praying for a friend. But two or three times, I saw him interacting with some people in the city. The temple has its own information channels, and I didn't expect those people. If I’m wrong, it’s the sand bandits outside the city.”
Fang Yu was stunned.
But it might not be a big deal for an information dealer to have contact with the sand bandits outside the city.
It's just that he always felt that something was wrong, and he couldn't remember it for a while - the term "Sand Bandit" was distant and unfamiliar. He always felt that he had heard it somewhere, but he couldn't remember what was important about it for a while.
Perhaps because the matter of Istania has come to an end for him, everything is not that important anymore.
He didn't stay in the temple for long before he said goodbye to Mai Yixier and left - speaking of it, the two of them had only met once before. This old knight helped him a lot, although it was in the presence of the goddess. under the guidance of. However, Fang Yu looked back at this ancient temple, reflecting the afterglow of the setting sun, and realized that he had another friend in this little-known fortress and in this world.
He didn't know if he would still be able to remember everything he experienced in Aitalia after many years.
With every name in this world.
…
Rupert looked at the note in front of him with a gloomy expression. It was like a black cloud pressing over the city, growing above this hall——
The note was no more than the size of a palm, and it had been rolled up. It seemed that it had been rolled up and put into the carrier pigeon's binding tube. There were still signs of bending on the paper.
The text above is very simple, with only a few words - the words of Istania are curved, as if they come from the imitation of flames. It is the inheritance of ancient wisdom and is consistent with the culture of Corin-Ithurion. Be different from the others. The meaning of the words is even more clear:
"Verified."
An abnormal flush of color surged onto Her Highness the Princess's face, which was the anger that she was trying to control, gathering together bit by bit. She clenched her fists tightly, her eyes were black, and she almost fainted, but she still resisted the dizziness, raised her head and looked at the middle-aged alchemist in front of her, and asked in a slightly trembling voice:
"Achilles, is this true?"
The latter raised his head, met the princess's eyes, and then lowered his head.
He hesitated for a moment and replied: "Maybe there are still some misunderstandings, Your Highness..."
"What I'm asking you is, is all this true?" Princess Rupert clenched her fists and said word by word: "Besides the Governor, there really is an 'A-F-F- Miss'?"
"Maybe it's just the same name..."
"What a coincidence?" She laughed angrily.
"She's actually been with the Mystic."
"What difference does that make?"
Achilles fell silent.
"So he has always been suspicious of my mother," Princess Rupert suppressed her voice, "Afifah and I are nothing. I believe in that man so much..."
"No wonder he would confine me to this place. Is he so scared?"
She couldn't help but sneer.
Achilles gave a timely reminder at this time: "Your Highness, these two things may not be connected. We only verified one aspect..."
There were some words behind it, but he thought for a moment and didn't say them out.
But this sentence just right aroused the rebellion in the heart of the princess.
"Isn't it enough?" Her voice was as cold as ice: "The previous investigation has explained everything, why he is always secretive... Seineman is the 'server' of the blind follower, don't I know? ?”
"Because he is my father, I trust him unconditionally. But my father is the mastermind behind killing my mother. I have been kept in the dark for the past ten years... He has long suspected my mother. , maybe she has been doubting me. No, Afifah is my sister. I will never admit that an inexplicable person is my biological sister——"
"Your Highness Princess, your mother..."
"Shut up, Achilles."
With a loud sound, Her Royal Highness the Princess drew out her scimitar and pointed the shining snow blade at the middle-aged alchemist in front of her. "Shut up, what do you want to say!?"
Her voice almost echoed in the empty hall, as sharp as a banshee: "My mother will never betray him. I have been investigating all this for ten years. Every detail, you will only be better than me." Know better. Are you going to betray me too, Achilles!?"
Achilles looked at each other expressionlessly, but said nothing.
But he didn't speak, and the eldest princess breathed a sigh of relief. She sighed quietly: "I'm sorry, Achilles... I didn't mean to target you."
"I understand how you feel," the latter replied calmly: "Your Highness."
"Thank you."
But Princess Rupert seemed very tired. She waved her hand feebly: "Step aside, Achilles, and let me be alone."
"I want to think about it..."
Achilles nodded slightly and bowed back.
But before leaving the house, he turned around again and asked: "Your Highness, what are you preparing for...?"
"I see."
She nodded.
But he couldn't help but think of what happened with Bein before.
…
"who are they?"
The tall alchemist looked at the group of people entering the Cassian Palace in the distance, turned to Ye Hua and asked.
The Ranger King leaned on his Elven King's bow, folded his hands, and looked in that direction - the people who entered Kashan Palace were obviously not natives of Istania. They were wearing northern clothes that were very rare in the area, but the north was not the places like Kapka, Rodel, and the Treasure Stick Coast where there were only two or three months of summer a year.
In the hearts of the Istanians, the north is Kaolin and the east is Ithurion. This is a very simple geographical concept.
Those people are from the Kaolin Kingdom, and they are not ordinary people.
"They are from the Kaolin royal family." Ye Hua replied calmly.
As the former president of the Southern Alliance, he had met the envoys of the Corin royal family more than once. Those arrogant 'angels' in bright clothes and angry horses had caused public outrage in the Elfendor Council more than once.
However, northerners have always been like this. They pride themselves on being orthodox in the kingdom, not to mention that they are envoys of the royal family. Most of them come from a large noble family, which makes them even more arrogant.
But with the stability and growing strength of Istania, the scenes of anger and instigation in the past are now very rare in this country above the sand sea; to be precise, the Kaulin royal family has not sent any troops here for many years. Having passed such a large-scale envoy, Ye Hua looked over and counted them in detail, at least hundreds of people.
There are many knights among them.
Dawn Knight.
"There are a lot of people." The alchemist also said.
"Indeed, quite a few."
The scale of this mission is rare in the history of Aitaria.
"But it's not that there are more knights," the former said suspiciously: "It's more like an army than an envoy."
Ye Hua also felt this way in his heart, but he did not know the establishment of the Kaolin-Ithulian envoys in the past, so he could only suppress the doubts in his heart. "One hundred and forty-two people," he finally counted the last person at this time, "this is the size of the mission to the Oshur Empire. I remember that the last mission to the empire was almost the same."
"What are they here for?"
asked the alchemist.
Ye Hua shook his head, how could he know this?
"I feel like something big might happen." The Ranger King only answered quietly.
"Feel the same."
"Speaking of which, I remembered something," Ye Hua suddenly turned around and said.
The alchemist looked at him with some surprise.
But the former pondered for a moment and then said: "Not long ago, something happened to the Kaolin royal family's spies here. It seemed to be something that happened in Tansnir... I remember that Her Royal Highness the Princess also raised this matter with the King of Sand. Protest, this protest has also been conveyed to Kaulin-Ishulian."
"I know this too," the alchemist replied, "I happened to be near Tansnir at that time."
"But it's been almost two months, right?"
"Don't forget that sandstorm."
The alchemist was a little surprised: "They can't come here just for that little thing, right?"
Ye Hua shook his head again:
"It's just a conjecture."
…
The edge of the desert is like a silver line under the sun.
But in the steaming water vapor, the silver line was slightly twisted, and in turn, it turned into a white city wall that shone slightly, as small as a line, or a string of pearls scattered in the sky.
The caravan stopped.
Luo Hao stood in the scorching sand, looking at the looming city walls, almost on the verge of crying - they had been stranded in the vast desert for nearly half a month, and were almost annihilated. Now they finally finally Returning to the civilized world, my heart was suddenly filled with a feeling of surviving a disaster.
Behind the fat man from the military, Jita, Luo Yu, Xiang Xiang and others also looked very excited. The little fat man from Lufu's Shield even knelt down on the ground and almost cried with joy. He couldn't help but imitate Dressed like an aborigine, he kissed the land - the sand, prayed to Andromeda, Marlan, or Ms. Roman, and thanked the saints for taking him out of the desperate situation.
Although there is clearly still starlight and a chance for resurrection, everyone feels lucky after experiencing such an experience.
They more or less understand what adventure is -
It's not just about the poetic scenery and the treasures hidden in the dungeon, it's also about the dangers and hardships, and careful preparations to avoid falling into such a desperate situation next time.
But Luo Hao turned around and looked at the girl standing at the end of the team.
Afifa was also a little excited - this mystic girl has lost a lot of weight and suffered a lot in these days, but she still looks very clean and tidy. The Knight of the Sky seems to have this power. Her eyes were shining, and she looked motionlessly at the city on the horizon, not because she was saved.
But because this was her first time to come to this legendary royal capital, the pearl in the sea of sand.
…
